The King's Servants

Chapter 14

The children had no idea what was going on but orders were orders and the kids had no choice but to change into their "play-clothes". Once they were ready, they started making their way down to the king's room.

"Does anyone have the slightest idea as to where we may be going?" asked a confused Jack.

"Not a clue dear brother", answered Camilla. Nobody knew what the king was planning. In the least, since it was King Baritorin, it couldn't be anything bad.

When they entered the king's room, they all gasped in horror. The man that stood before them wasn't the king! Blue eyes, dirty blonde hair and a smile full of ugly, blackened teeth greeted the children. It was a male commoner with old clothes and a brown feather cap. From the mess of clothes present on the king's bed, this foul fellow had been rummaging through the king's possessions.

"INTRUDER! INTRUDER IN KING BARITORIN'S ROOM", yelled a terrified Camilla, but before she could sprint to get some giant-sized help, a colossus of a hand grabbed her mid-section and pulled it upwards, much to the horror of her siblings. All was silent, as her siblings began to contemplate their sister's fate.

Camilla's heart was now racing at 100 miles per hour due to the sudden change in altitude. Her captor was holding her to his intimidatingly massive face. She decided to face him head on. Looking away would only make him feel like he had more control, so she decided to scream very loudly. She expected an evil, ugly sneer of some sort or an angry glare.

"Shh, Camilla, my darling, it's me!" said an all too familiar voice that vibrated all around her. She was soon met with a concerned gaze and a small smile. Behind the plain clothes and the black teeth, Camilla recognised her captor. It was king Baritorin. He was in disguise for some odd reason.

"King Baritorin? You nearly scared us to death!" complained a now calm Amelia. Her sister was not in any danger, so she and all her other siblings were relaxed once again. "We were genuinely worried about her and about you!"

"I know, I know Amelia, I'm sorry. At least this proves that my disguise is effective. Where we are going, I do not want anyone to recognise me or it'll ruin everything that I've planned", answered the king in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But sire, where exactly are we going?" asked a slightly confused Thomas, who couldn't understand why the king would want to hide his identity from anyone. He was adored by the people of Valencia, so he would be received well by the public.

"We are going down to the big public garden by the river. It is such a nice day outside and I wish to get as far away from Queen Armana as possible, so I thought we should go and explore Valencia's true beauty outside of this boring castle", replied Baritorin, as he adjusted his sleeves to make them a bit longer. The excitement was evident in his deep voice. However, the teens didn't seem to share in his excitement. In fact, they looked very upset. They all had their arms crossed across their chests.

Since they hadn't received a proper answer concerning why the king was wearing this disguise, the kids' brains went into overdrive. They imagined that the king wore the disguise so that no one would see him and think that he spent time around a bunch of poor, simple humans.

"Why don't you want to be recognised while we are there? Don't want to be associated with a bunch of poor, ratty humans in the eyes of the common giant people?" spat Ella, the venom thick in her tone. Her siblings all sided with her, giving the king the most accusing looks he had ever received.

That was when Baritorin became offended. They had just outright accused him of not wanting to be seen in public with them. Why would they even think that? He was even more offended by the tone that Ella had used with him. He didn't want to, but he was going to have to teach them some manners, whether they liked it or not.